A new series of tablatures for baroque lute in Lute News: Brussels Bibliothèque Royale Albert Ms II 276 and

the works of François Du Fault, edited by Richard Corran, part 1: pieces in G minor

Some 20 years ago Tim Crawford1 pointed out that the manuscript Brussels Bibliothèque Royale Albert Ms. II 276 (abbreviated to Br
276 subsequently in this note) contained a number of pieces which might be ascribed to Du Fault. There are at least two hands in this
manuscript, and the first of them gave many pieces which are ascribed in other sources to François Du Fault2 although no piece in this
hand has any ascription nor title. In hand A, there are some 54 pieces in BR 276 of which 24 can be identified as being by Du Fault from
other sources. He went on to suggest that all the pieces in this hand with the clear exception of the first, a simple saraband perhaps used
for teaching purposes, could also well be by Du Fault. The pieces in Br 276 in hand A which cannot be attributed from other sources were
not included in the collected works of Du Fault published by the CNRS.3 As this volume is no longer available, I started some years ago
to trace the pieces in the volume back to their original sources with the object of compiling my own version of all the extant lute works
by Du Fault. However, I also took up another suggestion by Tim Crawford in his review of the second edition of the CNRS volume4 to
include not only the selected version of each piece used in the CNRS volume but also every other extant version. After a number of years
I have now accumulated as many such versions and pieces as I can identify.5 Needless to say, we will never know that such a compilation is
complete. In this compilation I have accepted all the pieces by Hand A except the first, see above, as being by Du Fault, but in the printed
tablatures I have retained a question mark in front of the composers name, e.g. ‘? François Du Fault’.
The plan is to publish the works of François Du Fault in successive issues of the Lute News, using both the printed music supplement
and the Lutezine. The printed version will concentrate on those pieces which appear in Br 276 in hand A giving the versions which occur
in that manuscript, while the Lutezine, being less constrained with paper counts and postage costs, will contain the complete collection
of all extant versions.
In the first issue, the pieces are in G minor for an 11-course instrument tuned f d A F D A' G' F' Eb' D' C'. Six of the nine pieces in this
key from Br 276 are given in the printed music supplement. The other three G-minor pieces will be printed in a subsequent issue together
with a few pieces from other sources to complete a notional ‘suite’. When the G minor pieces in Br 276 are all printed the accompanying
Lutezine (planned for a subsequent issue) will have all the extant pieces in all the versions in the same tuning in the key of G-minor for
an 11-course lute in a form that can be printed out to make a small book.
The policy in preparing these pieces has been to accept as much as possible from the source. Where necessary to make the piece playable,
I have corrected a few obvious slips, such as putting the tablature letters on the wrong course or rationalising the rhythm signs to make
each bar ‘regular’, but such changes should always be noted in the print. This policy will apply to those pieces in the digital version in the
Lutezine as well as the printed music supplement.
I hope other players of the baroque lute will have as much enjoyment from playing these pieces as I do.

Notes

1 Crawford, Tim ‘The importance of François Dufault and his influence on musicians outside France’, Paper presented at the conference
“Luths et Luthistes en Occident”, Cité de la musique, Paris, 1999, subsequently published in proceedings from the conference.
2 The spelling of Du Fault varies enormously in the manuscript sources but I choose the spelling given here since it is given in the printed
books of Pierre Ballard (1631 and 1638). The space between the Du and the Fault is perhaps clearer in the 1638 print.
3 Oeuvres de Dufaut, ed. André Souris and Monique Rollin, 2nd Ed. (Paris: Editions du Centre national de la recherché scientifique,
1999).
4 Crawford, Tim, Early Music, vol. 17, no. 2, 1989, pp. 263-265
5 I am delighted to acknowledge the invaluable help I got from using the database of Music for Lute Instruments compiled by Peter Steur
and Markus Lutz, available online at https://mss.slweiss.de/. Truly this is a remarkable contribution to lute scholarship and players.
 [Prelude] ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 74v g minor

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 [Pavane] Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 75v; CNRS # 161 g minor

1)

1) tablature d on 6th course raised to 5th course, cf. D-ROu54

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-1-
 [Allemande] ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 81v g minor

[Allemande] ? Francois Du Fault

B-Br276, f. 81v g minor

1)

1)

2)

2)

3) 4)

3) 4)

1) These two notes are a on 5th course and a on 6th course, changed to make better sense of line
2) Semiquaver rhythm sign added to make number of notes in bar work
3) 9th and 10th coirses changed to 10th and 11th courses
4) Final quaver e on 1st course omitted (too many notes in bar)
[Courante] Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 78v; CNRS # 43
1) These two notes are a on 5th course and a on 6th course, changed to make better sense of line
g minor
2) Semiquaver rhythm sign added to make number of notes in bar work
3) 9th and 10th coirses changed to 10th and 11th courses
4) Final quaver e on 1st course omitted (too many notes in bar)
F-PnVmb-7/216
[Sarabande] Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 83v; CNRS # 66 g minor

-1-

A-GÖ2 / 66v A-Wn17706 / 9v (1) CZ-NrlkKk84 / 9v D-B40600 / 42v D-B40601 / 110av

D-DS17 / 9v (spinet "Sarabande") D-LEm6-24 / 121v (#187) D-ROu54/111 D-SWl_641 / 39 (#
23) F-Pn6213 / 24 (1) F-PnVmb-7 / 217
PL-Lw1985 / 42v (#65) US-Danby / 81 (Tombeau du Roy d'Orange)
 [Gigue] ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 79v g minor

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 Prelude "P. par du Faut" Francois Du Fault
A-ETgoëss I f. 4v; CNRS # 90 g minor

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 [Courante] Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 80v; CNRS # 116 g minor

-2-

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 [Allemande] Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 82v; CNRS # 17 g minor

1)

1) Semiquaver rhythm sign added to make number of beats in bar correct by reference to A-Kr L 79, 72v
2) Quaver rhythm sign added to make number of beats in bar correct

-1-
 3)

1)

1) Semiquaver rhythm sign added to make number of beats in bar correct by reference to A-Kr L 79, 72v
2) Quaver rhythm sign added to make number of beats in bar correct
3) Quaver rhythm sign added to make number of beats in bar add up

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NDC 171: Courante Suedoise de du Faut Francois Du Fault

D-ROu XVII-54, p.123; CNRS #45 g minor

1) Quaver rhythm sign added to make number of beats in bar add up

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 Sarabande "Sarab. du Faut" Francois Du Fault
A-KR79, f. 124r; CNRS # 58 g minor

Sarabande du faut "Par Jean Filip Horny" Francois Du Fault

D-B40068, f. 23r: CNRS #53 g minor

1)

-1-
2)

3)
 1)

2)

3)

1) As given in ms but oculd be longer value, e.g. dotted minim.

2) Sign under this chord indicating possible petite reprise
3) This note and beat possibly crossed out in ms

[Gigue] Francois Du Fault

B-Br276, f. 77v; CNRS # 147 g minor

1) As given in ms but oculd be longer value, e.g. dotted minim.

2) Sign under this chord indicating possible petite reprise
3) This note and beat possibly crossed out in ms

A-ETgoëssIV / 5v; A-KR79 / 77r; CZ-NrlkKk73 /55

 Allemande (or Gigue?) ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 48v; not in CNRS, see preface C Major

1)

1) ms has a on 7th course, changed to a on 8th course

 Pavanne ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 46v; not in CNRS, see preface C Major

1) 2)

3)

1) Letters "cou" written under c on 1st course, very small - see below
2) Ornament sign like a minim rest just before f on 5th course,
or possibly use L.H. 1st finger to stop letter f on 5h course
3) Again, letter "cou" written under c on 1st course

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 1) 2)

3)

4)

1) Letter "cou" written just in front of d on 6th course - ?meaning coule, i.e. sliding in left hand?
2) Letter "cou" written just before d on 2nd course
3) This bar seems superfluous and can (should) be omitted
4) Letters "co" just before c on 3rd course

-1-
 Courante ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 49v; not in CNRS, see preface C Major

NDC.Ba.C Ma.5_3
Courante Francois Dufault
B-Br276, f. 50v; CNRS #30 C Major

-1-
 A-ETgoëss VI, 44; Ball1638,NDC
38; 77: Courante ; ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 53v; not in CNRS, see preface C Major
NDC.Ba.C Ma.5_1b

-1-

NDC.Ba.C Ma.5_5
 NDC 80a: Sauterelle Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, 51v; CNRS # 78; C Major

1)

1) Very faint but might be a b on 6ht course in this chord as well

 NDC 76: Courante ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, ff. 52v & 66v; not in CNRS, see preface C Major

1)

1)

B-Br276, 50; B-Br276, 64;

1) This bar is as in the ms.

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B-Br276, 50; B-Br276, 64;

NDC.Ba.C Ma.5_4

1) This bar is as in mss.

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 Sarabande
"Derniere piece de Monsr. Du Fault" Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 54v; CNRS # 65; C Major

F-Pn Rés. Vmb ms. 7, 68;

Note thatMa.6_1a
NDC.Ba.C this piece is in a different hand the other pieces in this supplement
François Du Fault: Pieces in D major on a D-minor tuned 11-course lute

Here is another selection of pieces from the Ms. Brussels Royale Conservatoire
II.276, this time in D Major. Apart from this manuscript, there are only four
other pieces in this key for the normal d minor tuned 11 course lute that are
attributed so Du Fault, so adding the pieces from the Brussel MS increases the
possible number to 12. I have put all versions from all sources in the LuteZine
including a fragment of an Allemande in the ms. D-B Mus. Ms 18380, a
handwritten addition to “Lautenfrüchte” by Esaias Reusner, held in Berlin,
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz, (here designated as
“Reusextra”) in the hope that someone might be able to identify another possible
complete sources of this piece. There are 10 pieces in the Brussels ms. included
in the music supplement. Nine of these are in hand A and are unattributed to Du
Fault, but the 10th is in hand B and is attributed to Du Fault. The three gigues are
all in common time, four beats to a bar, as are, for examples, all gigues by
Ennemond Gaultier, but the 10th piece, called a Sauterelle, is similar to gigues
later in the century being in triple time as indeed is the sole complete piece from
the Reusextra source, although that last looks much more like a courante than a
gigue.

Richard Corran
 Allemande Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 57v; CNRS #85 D Major
 Courante ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 59v; not in CNRS, see preface D Major

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 Courante ?Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 60v; not in CNRS, see preface D Major

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 Courante "vivons heureux"
Ballet des Muses, Lully ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br-276, f. 61v; not in CNRS, see preface D Major

CZ-Bm371, 30; PL-Lw1985, 110; CZ-Bm371 has "Courante" - this is by Lully, Ballet des
 Courante ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 62v; not in CNRS, see preface D Major

Courante ? Francois Du Fault

B-Br276, f. 62v; not in CNRS, see preface D Major

1) 2)

1) 2)

1) Changed from 8th to 7th course

2) Smudge in ms. e on 4th course guessed from smudge.

1) Changed from 8th to 7th course

2) Smudge in ms. e on 4th course guessed from smudge.
 Courante ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 63v; not in CNRS, see preface D Major

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 Courante ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 64v; not in CNRS, see preface D Major
Courante ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 64v; not in CNRS, see preface D Major

1)

1)

1) g on 4th course changed to f and in next chord also

lternative start-1-
to second section
1) g on 4th course changed to f and in next chord also

-1-
 Gigue ? Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 56v; not in CNRS, see preface D Major

D-LEm6-24, 345; GB-Ob618, 33;

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 Gigue Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 58v; CNRS #156 D Major

This piece is untitled in B-Br276 but the same piece in D-ROu XVII-54, p. 295 (different tuning) is
marked "Gigue"
"Sauterelle d Mr Du fault" Francois Du Fault
B-Br276, f. 65v; CNRS # 160 D Major